How to Keep Self-Criticism from Halting Productivity

Utilizing Helpful Editing Skills in the Face of Criticism

As creators, we are often faced with an inordinate amount of criticism from our family, friends, clients, strangers, and even our audiences, especially with the birth and growth of social media and the ability to share our work publicly and internationally. However, our biggest and most harmful source of criticism often comes from ourselves. Once we get some of these criticisms in our own minds, it is difficult to assess them clearly and even more difficult to see our own work clearly. This can severely impact our work and projects.

Fortunately, there are a few things that we can do to turn these criticisms into productive editing skills. Before we begin with that, we will need to examine some of the biggest we tend to give ourselves, and see how they impact our work.

1. Impostor Syndrome

Put simply, impostor syndrome is the voice in our minds that tells us “you’re not qualified”, “you’re not an expert”, and “you don’t know enough about this”. Valerie Young has stated in her work that perfectionists will often fall in this category. The need for everything to be perfect, done absolutely right, without any mistakes, can often make us feel as if we are underqualified for our work and our projects, can make our projects seem impossible to complete, and can severely hinder the creative process.

There are a few steps to remedy Impostor Syndrome. The first is simple, and a little bit fun: acknowledging that our brains are not very smart sometimes. Hear me out: our brains have a lot of work to do to keep us alive: processing information in a nanosecond and, of utmost importance to us here, analyzing incomplete data to come to a conclusion. This makes decision making and analysis of a situation to determine the appropriate response to it very quick and easy, especially when we are in danger. Unfortunately, our brains also miss a lot of information and has to fill in the blanks for us. Our fight or flight response does not work adequately when it comes to creativity. Often, these thoughts of self-doubt come from a place of snap decision making, telling us that we aren’t qualified, that we aren’t ‘good enough’ or ‘smart enough’ or ‘experienced enough’. As I’ve been told on more than one occasion now, thoughts are not facts.

The second step is realizing that there might be a sliver of truth within your criticism, but also recognizing that there are ways to remedy this. Perhaps you aren’t as knowledgeable about the topic as you would like to be before beginning/continuing the project. Become more knowledgeable. There are books and libraries and the World Wide Web at your disposal. You have family, friends, coworkers, and peers who can help, or may have a perspective you’re missing. Do more research, separate, then regroup.

Finally, practice, and get an outside perspective. Even writers can, and do, practice, and it always helps to step away from the work and get another perspective. Perform your presentation to a trusted friend or colleague who can give honest but warm feedback. Having a hard time drawing something new? Look at references and draw as many as you can and show it to a friend. Writers: rewrite. Do more research, rearrange, and recoup. As writers, I often find that drafting is our process of practice. Try a different tactic, change a detail, or rearrange your paper. There is no harm in having twelve different drafts before beginning the final product.

Now you’ve assessed the thought, researched, practiced, and you’ve gotten an outside perspective. You’re no impostor.

(Note: impostor syndrome, if analyzed inwardly, can be great character practice. Consider a character trying too hard to fit in, someone trying to impress a potential lover, and even a character just like you who may be struggling with completing projects.)

2. “So-and-so” already said this, and said it better

Let me be blunt here: who cares? Obviously we want to avoid, at all costs, plagiarism and the repetition of ideas that have already been done to death, especially in our academic work. We’re told as poets and academics, as authors and artists, to “create something new”. This isn’t entirely false, but it isn’t entirely true, either.

“It’s all been done before” as the Barenaked Ladies so graciously inform us. Sure, but there is no reason for your input to lack value. Find a different angle. Change three details. Take the formula, cut it in half, and paste a different formula onto it. Change the ending. Take a different viewpoint…

Read what has already been said. Again, do the research. What has been forgotten? What’s missing? What factors can be expanded on? There is no subject in which no more discovery can be made. It has not “all been done”. With the size and processing power of the human mind, by sheer force of willpower, we have achieved more, always, and consistently, especially when faced with adversity and told it’s been done before by someone ‘better’.

For writers and artists, consider these examples:

-So the knight killed the dragon and saved the princess, but what if the dragon was her friend or her pet?

-The sky is blue and we know why, but what if it wasn’t? How would that affect the data? How would the phenomena affect us? What sorts of things would cause the sky to not be blue?

-What if Aphrodite was actually a 24-year-old man working at a law firm?

Academics, always consider all angles of the story you are trying to tell—and yes, even in your fifty-page dissertation, you are telling a story. Read what has been said, discover what hasn’t.

Discover, learn, and discuss.

3. “I don’t have the authority”

This is a new one for me, but with the changing atmosphere of the world as we head fast into the 2020’s, I can see this becoming more and more of an issue—and an absolutely valuable one to consider.

This criticism differs from the other examples in the fact that it may very well be true, especially when considering race, culture, gender, and sexuality in academic and creative work, and those subjects can be extraordinarily difficult to navigate. I only have one remedy: go get authority.

What do I mean by this? Put simply, if you feel like a topic is outside your frame of reference socially or culturally, the best thing you can do to remedy this is to speak to those who are authorities on the subject. Seek work done by those actively present in those worlds. Ask for opinions and advice from people in your social network about your topic to ensure your work is coming from a place of love and understanding. Ask questions, collect information, and seek audience. Admit that you would like to learn more, and would like to complete your project respectfully. Speak with your target audience and strive to understand their perspective more fully.

As another note, it is okay to make mistakes. Whole essays and dissertations and stories and novels have been published with incorrect, and even inappropriate, information. Strive to avoid this, of course, but should a mistake occur, the best thing to do would be to admit the mistake and remedy the situation as best as possible. It is all part of the learning process, and admitting your lack of authority in a subject can lead to a far more thoughtful piece.

The important things to consider are to do your research, avoid harmful stereotypes (and be aware of them), and to be open to potential negative feedback. Many BIPOC, queer, disabled, or other historically disenfranchised groups also give advice on forums like Twitter, Facebook, tumblr, and many others. Do not give into the ‘white saviour’ role, and do not publish anything that could potentially cause harm, and do keep in mind, that writing academically on a subject is far different than writing creatively about the same—taking the perspective of something that you do not actively identify with can potentially cause a lot of harm, can misrepresent a minority, can misrepresent a culture, and can misrepresent a group of people that have already been horribly misrepresented throughout history, and these things must be handled with care.

Acknowledging your place in the discourse and seeking to discuss respectfully and thoughtfully will always be your best bet when writing about sensitive topics. Don’t avoid topics because you may not have the authority—go out and get it, seek audience, and understand that you likely will not have the whole story or all of the perspectives.

Overall, some of the best things we can do when we begin criticizing ourselves is to acknowledge the thought, assess it, and either change the thought or work through why we are having them. Once we know why, we can more readily tackle handling the problem and moving forward with our projects. Stepping away from the work often expedites this process, and coming back after some time separated can often make things seem a lot clearer.

Considering where these thoughts are coming from will help immensely. Are they coming from a place of exaggerated truth, or from a place of entire falsehood? If truth, what can be done to remedy the ‘error’? Could it be more research, a new perspective, or discussions with others? Clarifying the ‘why’ of the thoughts and clarifying the idea or project itself, with a little separation from the work, can be extremely productive to keeping your projects, essays, and creativity active. Asking for a second, third, fourth, or fifth opinion from someone you respect in the field or even a friend you can trust to be honest can help give perspective when self-criticisms halt the creative process.

Most importantly: be kind to yourself. Humans make mistakes. Nobody is an expert in everything. Your opinion is valuable.

Happy creating!

Note: A great big thank you to my dear friend and fellow poet, Jenna Albert, for clarifying some of these ideas. For the list of articles considered and referenced in this piece, or for further reading, please check out the links below.

Do you have suggestions for future topics, or would you like me to reexamine some of the work done in this post? Have I missed something or made a mistake? Feel free to send me an email and let me know. Check out these articles below:

What Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin with Psychology Today

Self-Criticism by Robert Leahy with Huff Post

5 Types of Imposter Syndrome by Melody J. Wilding with The Muse

Don’t Dip Your Pen in Someone Else’s Blood: Writers and ‘the Other’ by Kit de Waal with The Irish Times